44th BG B-24 shot down by an intruder over Breydon Water - plane on H2X radar bombing practice mission alone over Gt Yarmouth 8 May '44, carrying 6 officers & 2 enlisted crew. Brand new aircraft & crew transferred in from the 466th BG, first time this ship had been flown at this altitude. Crew reported an attack by an unseen enemy a/c over Halvergate, damage & fire to starboard wing & bomb bay area, ship became unresponsive - Pilot Lt Musgrave gave order to bail out at 23000 ft, plane entered tight right hand spin all crew exited the ship with exception of Radio Op TSGT Lawrence Cargill who was killed in the resulting impact. Lt Musgrave bailed but was found on the marsh with his chute unopend & the investigation could find no good reason for this as the D ring was still in the chute pack.
5 x 20mm cannon shell holes were found in the wreckage giving credence to the crews report of an attack by an unseen enemy aircraft. Crash report also mentions the possibilty of Cargill having sustained injury from the attack & was either killed or incapacitated resulting in his inability to exit the ship.

The life preserver is indeed the one worn by TSGT L. Cargill & recovered from around 7 ft along with other personal items which we believe to have belonged to him.

My theory is that the average crew member wearing full flight clothing would weigh just shy of 200lb's multiply that with a conservative estimate 2g or higher centrifuge from the spin & you weigh in at 400lb or more thus making it difficult to make an exit from a cramped station area in the few minutes it would take the plane to auger in from the 20000ft - 250mph spiral dive. From accounts of other crew who survived this was usually the case when a large a/c begins to spin at speed, most will recount the inhuman strength needed powered by the burst of adrenalin & will to survive which saved them from certain death in similar situations.

Thank you all for your interest & I will post more images in due course after more parts are cleaned & documented.

Some of the items after cleaning

Many thanks for the photos and the back story to the wreckage. I'm sure the recovery of the artifacts was exciting tinged with the saddness of knowing a young man died there and his Lt also died as a result.